WANDERLUST
by Sunny-Dazee
Summary: Story just for me. Read it, don't read it. I don't care
1. I: Kazaki

Summary: This isn't a typical "girl goes into a different world" story. This certain girl is just the small trigger that awakens certain destinies. And they awaken other destinies. And so on. This is the story of how they all embrace and endure their Fates. How they deal with their problems, the people around them, their enemies, and their futures. And how some with stop at nothing to make sure your dead and gone. Also how this group of heroes fight back.

**READ THE AUTHOR NOTE TO SAVE YOU FROM BEING COMPLETELY CONFUSED! :]**

A/N: Don't flame. Please. My Oc's won't change the actual Naruto storyline. This is pretty much something else going on while the actual Naruto characters are going on with their own lives. They're mentioned, don't worry. Some canon, non-canon pairings are thrown into this. I'm trying _not _to make my characters Mary-Sueish or Gary-Stueish. I've given them all flaws, even though some aren't shown. Like Retasu is obviously cocky, Satome is bipolarish, Shou isn't a happy person, and Kunio is kinda a jackass. Sorry if the fact that most characters are being put into one chapter confuses you but I'll clear it up later. Unlike most Oc stories, mine won't lack adults. Even they get some POV time so yeah. When one of my protagonists joins them, you'll get a better description of how the characters look. Oh and when a persons name is in bold, it mean's it's in their POV. Third person is obviously none of their POV. I hope that doesn't confuse you either.

Enjoy!

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**Retasu**

From what I heard, graduations in other worlds were supposed to be eventful and all cheesy with tears and junk. Why did _mine_ have to suck? Karma isn't a option. It's a bunch of bullshit, to me anyways. Or maybe our world just sucked. Maybe I'm being pissy? Nah, not that. Someone as good-looking as me would probably get punished like this though…

"Ha. Retasu and Akira don't have a teammate yet." My dumbass friend, Hachiro commented. Akira kicked the back of his knee as I smirked when he groaned.

Daichi, being the idiot he is grinned. "Guess that means you won't come with the rest of us to Promise Island for the welcome party." He gloated.

And just so you know, I'm not eighteen. I hear you have to be eighteen to graduate in most worlds. I'm fifteen. We'd just graduated from the Konohagakure Ninja Academy. Yeah, we're too old for that. Our classes were made up of fourteen, and fifteen year olds. We were in a class for those who started school late. I started school late since my brother had no idea how old I was. I remember my mom kept sending him letters asking him how old I was, too. God my parents suck. They're not abusive, they don't ignore me. They're just stupid.

Where was I?….Oh yeah, party. So we're all going to the Taiyou Academy in the Spirit Country. Which is the most fucking huge ass country in this world. Mostly cause of the Taiyou Academy. It's for the Konoha, Sand, Waterfall, and some other villages to send their best students to get even better. But we're getting different schedules. So you get in there two ways: Your academy recommends you for being a geek or a kick ass fighter. Which is me. Or you go on and be a little rich kid by paying your way into there. We don't get a sensei which seems pretty cool to me. Especially Hachiro with his stupid anti government, authority hating mind of his. Oh party. Right. Well us fresh meat get our own party bonfire sort of thing in the Promise island by the Spirit Country. Which I hear is one of the fucking best parties out there.

But no. We, Akira and I don't have a third teammate. We swore that until they got us someone, we'd get overloaded with beer to replace the party. I'm not so sure my brother knows about the drinks. Say whatever the fuck you want but Akira and I are not drunkies. We control it. Why? Cause we don't have enough money to pay for beer all the time. Lame, I know.

Daichi grinned as we walked over to the bar. I hadn't even noticed they were still being retarded. This moron happened to be the luckiest moron in the worlds right now. He got Shizuka Kage and Ryota something or other as his teammates. Which were both feakin smart and skilled. And then he's a idiot. Shizuka, a pretty okay looking smart girl plus Ryota, a freakishly quiet emo acting kid with the hardest punches plus Daichi, a gambling idiot equals passing grades for him. Bastard.

Outside the bar was Drunk Pedo. Drunk Pedo was obviously a drunk. He acted like a pedo too. So Daichi, Hachiro, Akira and, I called him that. He's some hobo freak who we give money to so he'd buy us beer. We'd give him some extra money as a tip. He had that creepy shit smelling raincoat which meant he'd managed to get us those large sized beer cans. Drunk Pedo scratched his tangled beard and extended his hand out to Daichi, meaning he wanted extra cash. Right after their hands exchanged Drunk Pedo put the money in one of his several projects and smiled.

"My, you have such a soft hand. I wonder what else of yours is soft…" He stated. The three of us laughed at the grimace on Daichi's face. Drunk Pedo always found a way to 'compliment' Daichi. I'm sure he's molested a kid before. This was probably the last time we'd ever buy from him though. I planned out what to do when we left. You see, here, like any other world, rapists aren't taken lightly. Not one bit.

Daichi stepped back slightly and almost fell back on a rock. Hachiro shook his head and caught him by the collar. Akira sighed and took the bottles. As we walked away, I called out. "Later, Pedo. That's the last time you'll ever SEXUALLY HARRASS A LITTLE BOY!"

_Bingo_. A group of adults formed around the perverted hobo. I smirked. Daichi grinned as we bumped fists. Everyone always appreciates my nature of being an asshole. Some say I should grow up if I'm going to Taiyou. I'll pass on that. No way will I ever do that. If I weren't an asshole then what would I be? Oh right, Kazuo.

We ended up at a fast food restaurant. After Rihatsu's soldiers or guards or whatever mentioned fast food places on Earth, our world actually built some. It's called The Munchies. It's pretty much a Plaza with restaurants and stores are. Mostly for kids or teenagers. At the very center is where red circular tables were scattered around a large fountain. The Plazas in the Spirit Country are way better though. It's always tradition for the graduating class to go there after. Well, for those who are going to Taiyou. The others, who knows. The other teams who stay here and get a sensei graduated a couple days ago.

Satome bounced to us and grinned. "Hey! I'm so excited for the party, aren't you?!" She beamed at Akira. Those two don't go out but have like this on and off thing going on. When she noticed Akira's now depressed expression she frowned and laughed awkwardly. "Oh yeah…you guys don't have…so you can't go…party…" She mumbled stupidly.

I laughed at her dumb expression. She squared her hands on her hips and stepped on my foot. I groaned and held up the beer. "We h-have drinks…" I croaked out before she did something else. Now, the only girl I'd ever hit is someone bad. I'm classy.

Her icy blue eyes brightened again as she snatched them and ran off to the others. "Hey, they brought beer!" A couple of adults immediately turned to her. "R-root beer, duh!" What a horrible liar. I really don't know what Akira sees in her sometimes. Sure, she's cute but where's the boobs? And she could go from all cheery to a bossy ass son of a-

"Look who it is." I turned to Hachiro and gazed at the direction he was looking at. I scowled. It was Kazuo, Satome and Hachiro's third member. Team 14. We never liked each other. Never. I met him at the park before school started We were both making sand castles and mine ended up being bigger, until he kept building it until it was bigger than mine. We kept going until they were the same size and exploded into useless sand grains. Then our parents tried to make us talk and we ended up fighting. I punched his eye. Ah, good times.

The _clack_ sound of the beer bottles opening made me grin again. Fuck yeah. Daichi and Hachiro already walked off to Ichiro. Everything looks seriously smaller next to him. With him was that quiet Noriko girl and Katsuo. Team 11. Katsuo looked at me and faced the other way. How typical of her. She's just like any other ex girlfriend out there, they completely ignore you for breaking up with them. I walked over to Satome who opened the cans. Did I mention they were fat and tall beer cans?

When I snatched one from her and gulped down, Shizuka smacked me behind the head. When you meet her, she's all polite and quiet. When you know her for a long time, she's still like that but worries more than a mom. "You dumbass. Why'd you want to get drunk, if you already act like it?" Satome giggled. It wasn't a joke though. Shizuka was straight out serious. Next to her was Ryota. He had that "I-don't-want-to-be-here-but-had-to" look on his face. God that guy needs to get laid. I'm not sure if he's ever smiled…I think he has once…

Daichi came behind both quiet shin obi and placed his arms over their shoulders. "Can't wait to go on missions, can you?!" He exclaimed. Team 44. Ryota being the little emo sap he is, shrugged him off and sat down on a nearby bench.

Auska came behind Daichi and kicked the back of his knee. "Stop scaring off people, moron!" She screamed. He groaned weakly and fell down on his knees. Emi rolled her eyes and murmured something to Kunio. He snickered and nodded. Team 16. A bunch of weirdos.

Satome snatched the beer back from me and poured it into several glass cups. Everyone took one, I being childish and taking the one with the most beer. She raised it up and gave the worst toast ever. "This is hoping we don't die in Taiyou!"

Everyone gave a awkward cheer and clacked the cups together. The dim light of twilight made the lights in the fountain light up. I drank it all in one gulp and so did everyone else. Shizuka gladly poured hers into Daichi's cup. Same with Ryota. I'd like to be there to see his hang over tomorrow.

Even though our cups were empty, Ichiro grinned and held his cup up. "And this is to the best party of our lives in a couple days!" To _this_ pretty much everyone in our little graduating group roared with cheers. Akira hung his head down and groaned. The loud noise of all the glass cups hitting against each other echoed throughout the medium sized Plaza. The place was mostly empty by now, except for us.

As they all went into loud annoying chatter I turned to Akira. He seemed to have gone from idiot to emo in minutes. "Look, without us…that partys gonna suck." He turned to me and gave me a disbelieving look. I sighed and slumped down next to him on the white decorated seats. "Okay…I don't believe myself either."

Auska came to us and leaned down. She observed our emoness for a couple seconds before grinning. "What? Sad about not going to the party?" She chuckled and continued when we said nothing. Of course we won't say anything! Not when pretty much everyone's reminding us we won't go to the party of the year. "So I guess throwing a prank on Kazaki won't help?"

I sighed and looked up at her big blue eyes. "He's on a mission. Hm, so, how's Kaede?" Kaede's pretty much Kazaki's girlfriend and Auska's older sister. They're both like twenty eight or something. You see, ever since my parents left on their little traveling adventures with Akira's dad, I was sad. Then Kazaki started playing pranks on me to cheer me up. And it did. Now my goal's to beat him. He and I don't get along much ha. He gets pretty stirred up when he sees me. Oh, that makes me happy.

Auska stood up straight and grinned. "She's doing good. She made manager at her job. The only problem in her life is Kazaki. That shy man's to scared to go deeper into their relationship! It's so bad, _I'm_ mad about it!" She fumed. She started tugging at her short brown hair and sighed.

I frowned and leaned back slightly. Akira looked like a scared little girl. So did I. It was Auska, she had that effect on people. "I-I see that…_crazy._" I murmured. Her hand twitched in the creepiest way. Before she could open her mouth I jumped up and screamed. "Party!"

* * *

**Third Person**

"Why the hell am I here?" A large brunette male asked. He scratched his head in confusion. "Damn, you wake me up in the morning and rush me over here, what gives?" He said to a old man sitting behind a large table.

The old man removed his red and white "fire" hat and sighed. He rested his elbows on the table and held his hands together. He shook his head silently. "Ah, Shou. Impatient as always." He mused. Through the dim moonlit light, the old man caught a glimpse of Shou's scowl.

Shou's face softened and sighed. "Well, Lord Hokage. If you were woken so freakin early in the morning you'd be cranky too." The look of understanding made the large man smile a little. "So…why am I here?" He asked again, calmer this time.

A silver headed man about the same age as him turned to him. "Kazaki asked for you." He said simply. Looking at the confused look Shou's face, he sighed and took a rolled up piece of paper from the Hokage's desk and handed it to the angrily confused brunette. He snatched it from the unfazed silver head. He too, was used to the male's grumpy attitude. He read through the letter.

_Lord Hokage, _

_D'you remember me going non stop about a little girl I met at an orphanage in Earth? Akio? Well, I promised her that when around fourteen I'd come for her and bring her here. At last, Rihatsu approved of it. _

_I wanted to bring her here before her first day at Taiyou but, well…I'm on a mission. I won't be back until a couple days after school starts. So I'm asking if Kakashi and Shou could go fetch her for me?_ _I'd ask Kaede to go too, but I don't want them to meet just yet. I'd like to be there for such occasion._

_I put her school records along with a picture to make it easier for them. Ask her though, who knows if she'd want to leave Earth now. Tell her I sent them. She lives in Tokyo, Japan. Well around there, the address and everything comes with her records okay?_

_Kazaki_

Shou smiled slightly at the lack of formality his friend put into the letter. He looked over at Kakashi then to the Hokage. "So, when're we leaving?" He asked, placing the letter on the desk. He took note of all the paper work the Hokage currently had. _"Sure, it'd be cool to be titled as Hokage but, this? I'd pass on that any day."_

The sound of the Hokage's voice interrupted the male from his thoughts. "Tomorrow morning. I suggest you stay in Kazaki's room at the Kurai estate. Here," He handed him a paper filled with all kinds of writing. At the top right corner was a picture of a girl with short dark hair and a round face. She had slightly thin lips and far apart purple eyes. She wore a black winter uniform and smiled absentmindedly to the camera. "It's Akio's records and such. Oh and this," he handed him a golden reddish stone with a bright gold key embedded into the center. "A Key Stone. You know what they're for, right?"

Shou nodded casually. He'd heard of them before, but only Rihatsu had them. He guessed they'd let them use it to get to Earth, where the girl was. "Sure. To make portals to go to other worlds." He glanced down at the paper where at the top it had a note in marker. _"To be put in Team 17" _It said.

The old man nodded and pushed himself off the table. He walked around and stopped in front of both men. "Remember, tell her about all this if she says yes." They nodded and bowed. With that, they walked out of the office.

At the same time, both jounin stated. "We'll meet at the Cliff at 9." They nodded to each other and went their separate ways.

Shou made his way to the large wooden gates protecting the Kurai estate. Taking out a silver and black key, he opened the lock and pushed the heavy gates open. He walked casually through the garden and went all the way up to one of the various Japanese styled homes. He plopped down on one of the couches and placed the papers on the table, the stone being with Kakashi. He murmured to himself. "Better take a shower." With that, the man walked up the stairs, two at a time, and made his way into the bathroom.

* * *

Retasu and Akira made it home around ten o' clock. It didn't seem to matter though. Most of the elders were asleep by now, and the only young adult, Kazaki wasn't there. They threw themselves at the couch and groaned in happiness. After Retasu's little outburst, they went crazy. The other cans were open and _everyone _got a drink sooner or later. By the end of their little celebration, Kunio obnoxiously mentioned the welcoming party in Promise Island is going to be much better. Akira sat up and acknowledged a paper on the coffee table.

He picked it up and observed a picture of a girl on the center. "What's this?" The sudden musing of the brunette made the other teen male sit up as well. He made a small 'hmm?' noise and frowned at the picture.

"She's not that pretty. Her eyes are cool and all but-what the…?" His green eyes narrowed at a side note made at the top of the paper. "This girls going to be on our team?!" He cried.

Akira's eyebrows rose as he whistled softly. "Whoa. But she lives on Earth and- is that the shower?" He turned to his best friend and gave him a confused look. Retasu looked back at the teens hazel eyes. They both knew none of the elders showered this late.

They walked up the stairs and knocked on the shower door. A loud and muffled. "What?!" was the reply. They knew who it was the very second. Shou. Kazaki's grumpy friend. He lived in the Spirit Country so why would he be here now?

"What are you doing here?!" Retasu screamed back at the door, hoping he was heard through the running water.

"Going on a special mission tomorrow! It's late, go to bed!" The man yelled.

At that, they went down stairs and placed the paper exactly where it was, as if they'd never noticed it. Walking back up the wooden stairs, both boys turned to each other at the middle of both their doors. "He's probably here to get that girl. Tomorrow, let's follow them!" Retasu grinned. Akira nodded and grinned as they each went into their rooms. At least now they have something to do. But sadly, they both knew that they still wouldn't be able to get to the party. It'll take a while before the girl makes her decision and being from a different world, they knew they'd have to teach her how to fight before she'd make it to Taiyou.

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Did you like it? Is something wrong? Would you like me to add in something?

You can tell me all that in a review :)

I'll update if I get at least four reviews from different people. Helpful critisism is welcomed, okay?

So I hope you liked it and, don't forget to review!

-Hatter:)


	2. II: Day One: The Destined Meeting

(A/N: Um, I'm aware Yamba Juice isn't a real place but I always find it funny when tv shows change certain company names. Anyways, Yumei and Meikuro aren't being specifically introduced/described since they're just minor characters and this and the next chapters are pretty much the only ones they'll be in. Um it's kind of rushed, yes. Hopefully saying that Akio isn't well liked in her family and has a normal amount of friends makes her a more believable character. Akira and Retasu are actually considered popular or well known but theres still people who won't get along with them, okay? I put more flaws in them here. Akio has an impatient and irritable attitude while Akira's more adaptable than Retasu. )

**Disclaimers**: I obviously own nothing except my own places, characters, plot ect.

* * *

**"Day One: The Destined Meeting"**

**Akio**

God school is annoying. You know what else is annoying? My mom screaming at me to finish getting ready. I quickly gathered all my things together into my messenger bag just so she'd shut up. Fixing my uniform I slung the bag over my shoulder and headed out the door, not bothering to call out to my mom since I, unlike her respect my little brother sleeping. One of the few things I respect.

I closed my hands over my mouth and blew hot air into them. The December air was cool against my skin. While I walked over to the car, I placed my hands in my pocket and felt paper. I opened it and read it. _"Your name is Akio Kurai. Remember that." _I closed it before I entered the car so my dad wouldn't see. My parents or pretty much anyone doesn't know about Kazaki.

_It was six years ago. I can't really remember the month, autumn maybe. I came back from playing outside with the other kids during the afternoon. I sat down in my small bed and tried to go to sleep, like the other kids. When I couldn't I occupied myself with coloring books. None of the kids were really considered my "friends" because I'm pretty sure if I called them that, I'd get gloomy when they were adopted._

_The orphanage wasn't bad. The people there were nice, the food was good, no one ever really got into fights, and it was a balance between quiet and loud. At night, like always, I sneaked out my window and walked to the open field to sit down at the bottom of a large old tree that gave a great view of the night sky._

"_I guess I'm not alone?" A soft whispering voice came from the tree. When I got to my destination I noticed a young looking man sitting where I'd usually sit. He looked at my eyes for a second and smiled._

_I nodded and sat down next to him. He seemed safe. I wasn't good at judging people, but I was pretty sure anyone would've been able to tell. "Nope. But mister guy, this is my spot." I stated, giving him a friendly smile._

_He grinned. "Mind sharing it with me for tonight? I'll only be here today so it'd be nice if I could see the sky from here."_

_I hugged my knees and rested my chin on them, looking up at the moon. "Sure, why not." After a while of comfortable silence, I turned to him and tilted my head to the side. "So how come you're only here for one night?"_

_He shook his head. "Can't tell you, sorry. So, you're an orphan right?" I nodded. "Hm, it'd be nice to adopt you umm…"_

_I smiled and finished for him. "Akio."_

_He nodded in acknowledgment and continued. "Nice to meet you Akio. I'm Kazaki. It'd be nice to adopt you. I'm pretty sure you'd like where I lived. If you like the trees here, you'll love it I'm sure." He chuckled. _

_While he looked up at the stars I jumped up cheerfully. "Well, Kazaki why don't you adopt me then! Why talk about it?" I beamed._

_He smiled sadly. "As sad as it sounds, I'd have to ask permission. I have strict laws to follow, Akio. But you know, if you wait maybe hm…," He counted with his fingers in deep concentration and murmured things to himself before finishing. "Six years. If you wait for six years, I'm sure I'd be able to take you to live with me."_

_I nodded ecstatically. "Sure! I'll wait six years! Even if I'm adopted by then, I'll go with you, Kazaki! But you sure you'll come back?"_

_He nodded and smiled warmly. "Yes. I'm sure."_

_I pouted and stood in front of the man. "Promise? Like, spit Promise?" I spit into my hand and held it out to him expectantly._

_He too, spit into his own hand and shook mine. "I promise, Akio." We talked for a while before he told me a little girl needs sleep, wrote the note, and said his goodbyes. After that, I had something to look forward to for the next six years._

And here I am, still hoping he didn't forget. It's childish, I know but still. He didn't seem like the type of guy to break promises or lie or forget. He seemed a little shy but I knew he was a honest man.

"Akio?" My dad annoyingly called.

I shook my head from my little reverie and realized I was a block away from my school, where he always dropped me off. I said my goodbye and began to walk to my boring high school. My two families of cousins didn't live far from here, either. There was the brother and sister, Kimiko and Makoto. The there was the trio of siblings, Atsuko, Katon, and Rikuto. Kimiko went to the middle school not to far away while Katon went to the Elementary school a couple blocks farther. Atsuko and I were both 9th graders while Makoto was in 10th.

My school was boring. It had everything a movie school had, the sluts, the jocks, the typical clichés. I'm not sure which was I. A person doesn't believe in them, but you slowly realize people seem to like hanging out with people much like themselves. Since we're all selfish in our own ways.

As I walked into the school, the first place I went to was my locker, where Atsuko stood putting her own things in it. Next to her was my two friends, Yumei and Meikuro. Yumei was bubbly but was a MAJOR potty mouth and Meikuro was laid back with no care in the world. They shared a locker next to mine.

"Hey." I said to pretty much the three of them.

Atsuko stepped back from my locker, leaving it open for me and said rather quickly. "See you later."

I nodded as she walked off. After Yumei struggled with closing these beat up old lockers turned to me. "Hey, tomorrow you wanna go to Yamba Juice?"

Meikuro scoffed and added. "Yeah, it's so boring here we gotta do _something_."

I laughed and replied without hesitation. "Yeah, sure." Meikuro was right, the worlds been getting less interesting with each useless passing day. Besides, I haven't gone out in a long time so my mom said tomorrow, Saturday, it's okay to go out with friends. My parents aren't mean or hit me, but they're strict and don't pay attention either.

Yumei smiled and poked my forehead. "Meet us there at ten in the morning, okay?" I nodded as the bell rang. We each went separate ways.

* * *

**Third Person**

"You ready?"

"Yes, Shou. Now let's go before those two kids wake up."

"Yeah, you're right. Better appreciate that pain in the ass Retasu's asleep."

Kakashi rolled his eye as the two men walked out one of the many Kurai homes, carrying a formal looking yellow envelope. Right as the door shut, Retasu and Akira stood up from crouching on the second floor hall overlooking the living room. Both boys were completely unfazed at the comment Shou made on Retasu, since they were used to it. They immediately jumped down the stairs and walked over to the coffee table to where the two older Shinobi left the picture and records of the girl, already having memorized her face and address.

Akira folded it up and stuffed it into his pocket. Both boys ran out the door just in time to be at a safe distance where they could see Shou and Kakashi, but Akira and Retasu wouldn't be seen. They hid behind big thick bushes and watched as both men held the a stone with some sort of picture at the center and began making difficult hand symbols. After a while a flash of light blinded them for a second and after it was gone, a portal appeared between the two jounin.

They stepped in casually and disappeared. The two boys jumped from the bushes and walked in front of the portal, knowing it'd still be open for at least a minute more. Akira nudged a _nervous _looking Retasu. "Don't tell me you're scared." He teased but then frowned when the older male said nothing.

The fifteen year old smacked his fourteen year old best friend's stomach with the back of his hand to gain his attention. "Well you go first then."

Akira scoffed. The brunette was definitely not scared of a simple portal and was surprised that his cocky jerk friend was. He opened his mouth, ready for a stupid comeback when the portal slowly began to get smaller. "Get in you moron!" He yelled, pushing his nervous best friend into the portal before running in himself. About a second later, the portal disappeared.

Shou and Kakashi stepped out and looked around at their new surroundings. They appeared to be on some high mountains, seeing as they had a beautiful view of a large city which looked pretty small from the height of the mounting they were on.

Shou began to mutter various curses at the fact of having to walk all the way into the large city and then go out looking for a girl. Kakashi said nothing, and stayed on task like the professional shinobi he was. He simply began walking down the trail made of dirt that led down to something that eventually led to the city.

A couple of minutes after they began their walk, Akira and Retasu stepped out of the portal. Retasu pushed his friend and scowled. "What the hell was that?!"

Akira pushed him back and scoffed. "What was I supposed to do? Let you stand there like a little girl and let the portal thing go away?"

The green eyed male was about to push back and defend himself against such a comment when he noticed how high they were, and that if he'd pushed Akira, the poor brunette would've slipped and rolled down to the ground. "Oh shit."

Akira turned around and frowned when he realized how far they were from their destination. Retasu caught on quickly because soon him and his now calm best friend groaned dramatically at the same time he did so himself. They both slowly dragged their legs down the same route the other two had just walked. The girl's school would be over by the time they get there.

* * *

**Akio**

The rest of my day was normal. Which means it was boring! After walking out of my 6th period class I slowly walked through the now crowded halls. Putting in, and taking things out of my locker, I slammed my locker before receiving a call from my dad saying I'll be walking home today. If it was the summer, it'd be extremely pissed, but my mom knew I loved the cold and my mom started to mention maybe I should walk home in the cold to cool me down. You see, I have a _very_ short temper and what calms me down is a book, art, nature, or _ice cream_. Oh how I loved it.

I passed the school parking lot and envied the seniors and their cars. I love the cold, but I'm also too freakin lazy to walk all the way home! It's pretty far, and I'm not exaggerating. At least it's Friday and I have something to look forward to. I really love Yamba Juice, and getting away from my parents.

While I walked home, I pretty much shooed off anyone who tried to talk to me. I don't like to be distracted when I'm doing one of the things that calm me down. I decided to take the park route. I like passing by this one park when I walk home, especially when it's sunset. The park is even prettier then. I sighed happily at the quiet and the faint noise of someone playing a lyric less acoustic song in the street nearby.

I really love acoustic. It all felt nice. Even though everything bores me to no end. This blissful moment was radiant. The soft cold wind. The beautiful sunset sky and the light it made. The faint music. I closed my eyes. One second of bliss, the next I was thrown to the ground, my forehead slapped against the hard cement floor.

I groaned and rubbed my forehead. "What the hell's your problem?!" I growled at the two boys were currently tied up on my back.

They seemed surprised but when I turned to face them, no glare at them, a brunette grinned. "Oh hey, it's the picture girl!"

I hissed. "_What?_" I scrambled out of our little tied position to face them but ended up bumping my shoulder against a tree trunk. A weak yet _heavy_ branch bounced off my head. Before I blacked out I saw a blurry boy with green eyes burst out laughing and the brunette looking rather worried. My head met the hard cement once again.

* * *

I knew I'd passed out for a while. I felt a throbbing pain against my skull from the harsh unexpected impact. Did you know that when I'm sleeping I can randomly begin hearing what's happening while I'm asleep? Well, I can. I felt the roughness of a tree trunk against my back. At first I heard slight arguments, whispers, and before all that happened I heard that black haired person laughing their ass off. Then silence until I heard two new voices. They were men. Old guys, like in their 20s'.

At first it was whispers then it began getting louder. "You just _threw_ yourself at him in attack for eating a free banana?" A gruff voice said.

A younger voice, probably one of the boys replied defensively. "Well I didn't know we'd land on her!"

A clam, manly voice silently shushed him. Another voice, probably to one of the other boy chuckled. "At least we found her before you two did. I thought you guys were pros or something."

A smack noise was heard and the gruff voice growled. "Will you be quiet?!"

The calm voice sighed. "You're just as loud and immature as them."

One of the boys said. "You know, Retasu, this is _your_ fault for eating my banana."

The other boy scoffed and snapped back. "No, it's YOUR fault for having a weird obsession with them!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

I lazily opened my eyes and softly groaned as I got familiar with my surroundings. We were still at the park, but it was darker than twilight and the streetlights began to flicker on. The black haired boy's back was turned to me, and the other boy was facing him. Behind him were two men.

The black haired guy was about the same height as the other boy, which was pretty tall…for me. The dark haired guy wore a light gray sleeveless shirt and black shorts below his knees. From his shoulders down to his elbows he wore bandages. His skin looked soft and was creamy pale. His hair seemed to be slightly long and probably had bangs. He had a hair tail thing going on. He was the one who laughed at me.

The other guy had mahogany colored hair that was slightly neat on one side and became spiky and messy on the other. His eyes were brightly hazel. He wore a black t-shirt and a red slightly long vest. He wore reddish brown pants. His skin was darker than the other boys' but lighter than my slightly tan and peachy skin. I took note that both boys had well toned bodies. What I noticed more about him was his cute button nose and round cheeks.

The two men seemed annoyed and tired at the sight and sounds of the guys arguing. They had no idea I was beginning to awaken and started observing them.

The calm voice belonged to a silver headed man who wore a mask over his face that covered everything except his right eye. But straight out I knew he was annoyed, bored, and tired. His hair was spiky and thick. He was slightly shorter than the other man next to him and he had this smart thing going on. I could tell. He wore a vest with a dark blue long sleeved shirt underneath and well…pants. He sighed and took out a orange book, suddenly becoming the most interesting thing in the world to him.

The guy next to him was a buff looking brunette. He had his hair in this samurai looking bun. His skin was tanned and rough looking. He didn't seem like the person who goes around skipping with the happiest smile in the world, more like the opposite. His small eyes were angry and his full lips were in a hard line. His eyes were black. Like a sharks. He wore this dark gray vest kind of like the other guys and wore a black turtle neck shirt underneath. He too…wore pants. And fingerless gloves.

I never realized the guys were still arguing and as I stood up, the mahogany haired boy threw a acorn at the other boy. He ducked and without having time to notice, it smacked my forehead and bounced off. "O-ow…" I groaned. My blood started boiling when the black haired kid started laughing again. I picked up the acorn and quickly threw it at his face. "Stop laughing at me!" I smiled inwardly when the other guy started laughing. Noticing how weird their clothes really were I turned to the adults. "Who are you?"

Closing his orange book and putting it in a pouch on his back, the silver headed guy turned to the buff brunette who looked back at him. The silver headed guy walked towards me. "Are you Akio?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and replied suspiciously. "Yes…wh…why?" _stranger danger._ The whole don't get into a strangers car rule popped into my head suddenly. Remember, their puppy and or candy isn't real. Wait…what am I, five?

The man seemed to think of what to say for a second. Rubbing his chin he faced me again. "Remember anyone named Kazaki Kurai?"

Kazaki? Simply hearing his name made me hopeful again. "Yes, I do." I said rather quickly. I didn't mean for it to come out so hopeful and excited.

The brunette man walked and stopped next to him. "Well, _what _do you remember about him?"

I scratched my cheek. What did I remember? I remembered the time we met, but what did he mean? Does he mean about our promise? I started thinking of ways I could put it into words, but I just couldn't. Instead I took out the note and gave it to the silver headed guy. He slowly opened it and chuckled softly.

"He said I'd have to wait six years until he could adopt me…" I mumbled out. "Even if I'm already adopted…and something about permission and laws…" I finished it by looking at him.

The brunette crossed his arms. "Well, he's…on a trip…so here we are. He asked us to come get you, that is, if you'd want to come." Is any of this for real? I felt like time began to go faster. I think it was cause of how bluntly he said it.

The mahogany haired boy must've read my mine. "Don't you think you're going a little fast there? She doesn't even know our names." He turned to me and smiled. "Akira Kurai."

The silver headed guy said. "Kakashi Hatake."

The brunette man muttered out. "Shou."

And lastly, the dark haired asshole smirked. "Retasu Kurai."

I shyly scratched the back of my head and mumbled out. "I'm…Akio Okano?" Did they know that already?

_

* * *

  
_

They kind of explained everything. They said they weren't "from here" and asked if I was thinking of even saying yes. I did. So when they walked me home they said they'd come tomorrow and my decision had to be made by then. But I think they didn't want my parents to see them…

It's almost midnight and I couldn't sleep for some reason. I sighed and threw my legs off the bed and silently walked over to the bathroom. On my way there, I heard murmurs and whispers from my parents room.

"It doesn't feel right…to give Akio back to the orphanage." It was my mom.

"What about Satoshi? He's our child and we need to think of him too." Dad.

At this point my ear was pressed to the door.

My mom sighed. "I know…and we've never had this much difficulty with money…but still…"

My dad sighed too. "It's better than not being able to give her food and let her starve."

"You're right. And she hasn't been listening to us lately…she's been day dreaming too much, or she looks like she's waiting for something…"

True, true. At that point they decided to give me away. And I decided to go with Shou and Kakashi.

* * *

Yeah, that's that. Please bear with the boring chapters, yeah? Around chapter 7 or 8 is when it starts getting better. Trust me it's not exactly exciting to write a beginning. Anyways review! If you're gonna criticise let it be helpful critisism. I need everyone who reads this to tell me what they think. I, as a fellow reader sometimes don't feel reviewing what I read but as a writer, I understand how review really do help someone update with better work. So yeah, long story short: review, please!


	3. III: Red Flower

(A/N: Um , EXTREMELY short chapter, sorry. Here I show characters that will be minor for now. The redhead will be a slight protagonist and she has her own story, too. The redhead probably won't appear until chapter 6 maybe... )

* * *

**"Red Flower"**

**Third Person**

That afternoon was a beautiful sight. It almost seemed as if it had been painted by a proud artist. The sun warmed up everyone's skin in a pleasurable manner, and then there was that wind that had a romantic feel to it. Overall, the sky was so radiant. Not a cloud in sight. What an alluring afternoon that was, but not for two girls who had been walking that entire afternoon unaware of the divine sight. "Walking" at a pace that gave away the fact they were running from something ruined it for those who were admiring the not so peaceful day, what also gave out their mischievous behavior is their appearance. They wore two long black cloaks. They were in a hurry but that didn't stop an old man from stopping them.

"Slow down, young ladies...it's such a beautiful day. Every world shares the same sky, you know. Gazing at this perfect sky might be your only way to connect with people..." They nodded in panic, listening to some parts only and kept running. After a couple more minutes of running they knew that whoever they were running from probably lost them so they found a shady tree to rest, and gazed at the sky.

There was a tall one and a short one.

The tall one was thirteen. She had long thick black hair, her bangs covered half of her left eye. She had big lively eyes; they seemed like a faded green color. Her skin was a nice creamy color, soft too. As for the shorter one she was fourteen, and had very short choppy brown hair. Her crimson eyes went good with her peachy skin.

The brown-haired one faced her partner. "Haruki, you hear what that grandpa said?" Her voice sounded mature, yet sinister.

Haruki raised an eyebrow, not really knowing what she was talking about. "Uh..no?"

Michiko growled softly, and messed up her hair in frustration, now she had to explain.

"About the other 'worlds' thing." Haruki laughed, understanding.

"Oh, what about it?" Michiko rolled her eyes.

"Are there really other worlds?" She then chuckled, at how odd that sounded. Haruki knew what she was thinking but answered to the odd question.

"Hm...I'm not sure, maybe." Michiko sighed and jumped all the way to the top of the tree and grinned, looking down at Haruki.

"Hey, I think we're getting closer." Haruki smiled and began to walk, Michiko simply jumped down and followed her. A couple minutes after they left a portal of darkness appeared and disappeared immediately. Both girls didn't hear three figures jumping out of the portal.

After a few minutes of silence, Michiko couldn't help but break it. "Do you really think she'll be there?"

It took Haruki a minute so understand what she mean "Hm...we'll let's hope so, right? Mostly anyone who survived was taken there. Sadly we decided to go our own way…"

Michiko bit her lip "What if she isn't? What if she's...dead?" They walked another minute of silence until Haruki found the right words.

"Then...we'll have to-" Both their heads snapped forward at the quick sound of running interrupted them.

"Excuuuuse meee!!" A loud voice yelled, pushing both of them to the side. The only thing they noticed was her long red hair. As she was running farther both girls narrowed their eyes at the rude stranger.

They continued walking until Haruki gasped "M-michiko...what if that was...?"

Michiko looked back, as if the stranger would appear suddenly "I don't think so," Even Haruki looked back at the invisible stranger.

Michiko breathed out anxiously through her nose.

"Well...are there really a lot of people with red hair?"

Haruki pushed her lips together, wanting to say yes so they can say it was really just a random person and get it over with but then, she'd be lying. She wanted to lie so badly but what good would that do when Michiko knew the answer?

"No." Both of them were anxious.

"Well if was her then...why do you think she was running?" It was Haruki's turn to ask the questions and Michiko's to stress over answering them.

"I....don't know. It's been so long so...how would we know? Maybe we should go to Konoha and ask them." More silence.

"We're not allowed."

Michiko grinned. "Sure we are! If we sneak in we're practically royalty."

Haruki liked the thought of that "Well that is true. I'm sick of this ...dry place." Michiko rolled her eyes again at how stupid she sounded. They were in the stupid desert!

"How long till we get to Konoha?" Haruki rubbed the back of her head, trying to estimate

"Hmm…maybe a month and a half."

Michiko smirked "That's around those chunin exams...We'll surprise them!"

* * *

Anyways, review! Sorry if the two girls seem a little mary-sue ish. The redhead certaintly isn't one I'm sure of that.

I need people to review this story before I go on and update Happy Boys. It won't be for a while, too. I'm focusing on this one for now. If I get some reviews on this one I'll try and work on Happy Boys.


	4. IV: Day Two: Teamwork Skills

(A/N: Um, don't know what to say about this chapter. Yes, most of them will have A/Ns. Also in the story when there's paranthesis their pretty much unimportant additional things the narrator simply wanted to state. Don't mention anything about the NASA thing. What was meant is that their sure they're the only ones out there who know about other worlds. I skipped the training but the training after this will be shown. )

* * *

"**Day Two: Teamwork Skills"**

As I took in the beautiful smell of nature, I thought about my dream last night. It wasn't a bad horrifying dream, but it made me grateful Kazaki hadn't forgotten me. I dreamt that he did actually forget me, and I was sent to an orphanage in the middle of a field of dead grass. And when I opened the door, no one was inside. I guess I fear being completely alone with no chance of returning to those I love…

I was at Yamba Juice for a good one hour. It was all pretty normal and calm until Retasu and Akira appeared once again as I was ready to walk home. I didn't think they'd come now. For some reason the four males only made contact with me when I was alone. It's like they don't want to be seen by others except me. After I'd told them my decision to go, they grinned mischievously and called Shou and Kakashi. We took a train to one of the mountains. One of the mountains that over look the city, and it made me wish I had a camera. If I do leave, I would at least like a picture of the city. I sat on a flat rock while the four strangers talked quietly.

I still wondered where they were from…they_ really_ seemed foreign because of the way they were dressed. I mean it's that or they've had a nice little home under a rock for years. But besides that, they weren't bad looking. Well Akira and Retasu weren't, I don't see the two adults as nothing except…well, adults. Retasu was pretty good looking. His pale green eyes looked beautiful on his creamy white skin. Akira wasn't ugly either, with his brown hair (slightly reddish) and friendly hazel eyes. Except Retasu was an asshole and Akira wasn't _that _extreme like Retasu was.

The way Kakashi's voice sounded so close made me jump. I smiled weakly at him and tried to sound as polite as possible. The man was pretty intimidating, but like Shou was worse. "Wh…what were you saying? I…dozed off…" I ended lamely. Smart.

He made a noise in the back of his throat and motioned for me to stand up. As I jumped down dumbly from my not so high rock, I followed him to where Shou, Akira, and Retasu were. Kakashi seemed like a powerful person but he was a genius at controlling his emotions. "I was saying, that those two told me you decided to come with us…?"

I silently nodded. Shou began walking towards me and I took note of the thump his footsteps made. When he stopped in front of me, he crossed his bulky arms and looked down into my eyes for a good minute. There was this intimidating presence around him that probably made most people feel smaller than they were, like me. After I tried not to cower at the look he gave me. he sighed. "Guess it's time to explain," turning to the three other males he let out a grunt. "Who's going first?"

* * *

So I learned a bit more about the situation here. I sang a little victory song in my head when I found out I was partly right. They were foreign, but not from another country like I thought. A different world apparently. Huh. Explains the weird clothes but I still wouldn't have thought that. Why did I believe them? Why did I _not_ think they were as crazy as they acted? I don't know. I don't know half of the things I did and do in this boring life of mine. Kakashi tried to keep it as short and simple as possible. He pretty much explained to me that they're from another world, there are other worlds out there, their ninjas, and he'll tell me the rest after I pass this little test to know what my skills are. At that I began to worry at what this test really is.

He led us into this semi clearing. There he placed Retasu, Akira, and I on one side while they went on the other, facing us. The two adults began discussing in serious whispers. I turned to Akira (the nicer one) and shifted my weight onto my left leg in anxiety.

"So uh…Akira…what's this test all about?" I said, trying to sound casual. Instead I sounded as nervous as I looked.

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I really don't know," He chuckled nervously. "I'm nervous too." He said, grinning at me. Well, I guess I'm obvious.

Retasu crossed his arms and kicked Akira in the ankle. He quickly shifted his gaze towards the conversing adults then to us in our little huddle. "Don't let them know that though," He grumbled. "Dumbasses."

I had enough of this hot arrogant bastard. Who does he think he is? He may be the oldest but I'll never let him tell me what to do. I stood up straight again and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him down to meet my eyes. "You know what-"

Shou cleared his throat loudly to get our attention. He started at me until I miserably released a smug Retasu. Good thing too, I didn't even know what I was going to do to him. If they really were ninjas, I don't stand a chance. But I had to make them think I do. I don't wanna go to a new world and look like a wimp. Even though I'm admitting I am. Never to their faces though, to myself.

Kakashi crossed his arms and I noticed a small orange book in his hands. Before speaking, he gave a longing glance at the book then his normal professional look to us. "Okay, at first I was thinking of giving you my normal bell test,"

Shou finished the sentence. "But you're going to Taiyou, you'd need something more challenging. The bell test is pretty hard," I winced at this "but you still need to be challenged." I could've sworn he smirked at me. This guy was sadistic or something! "Now…time to reveal your test." He actually smirked this time as he began the explanation.

* * *

Seven times. The taxi driver looked back at us seven times. "You guys sure everything's alright?" He said mostly to Retasu, Akira, and I. He probably thought Shou and Kakashi abused us or something. Also since our cuts were deeper and we had more than the two adults. Every time I made a facial expression, it hurt. It probably didn't for the four of them but still…it hurt. If this was how my new life was going to be, I'll need to learn not to make many facial expressions.

Retasu and I both couldn't talk since our tongues were so dry but Akira seemed like a fast healer. "Yeah, no worries. Just took a challenging hike." He flashed a grin that seemed to reassure the driver that we weren't abused.

Shou chuckled at the hike thing. He rubbed some of the scratches on his face and leaned his head back in exhaustion. Kakashi was in the passenger seat, quietly reading the small orange book he took out earlier. Kakashi noticed how Retasu and I couldn't stop panting and handed us water bottles he apparently had in his jacket. They were small and we finished them a couple minutes after receiving them. I felt completely content as the water made its way through my dry tongue and down my throat.

Sighing in relaxation, I turned to Shou. "So…how did we do?"

He opened one small green eye and grumbled. "Horrible" He stated flatly. He then closed his eye casually and continued his relaxation. What's with this guy? Jeez, hopefully I don't have to deal with him later on…

Akira's grin faded and turned into a look of horror. "What?! I thought we did pretty good!" So did I. Retasu made a sound and slouched down the seat next to me, crossing his arms. I nodded at what Akira said and waited for at least an answer.

Kakashi sighed and closed his book, somehow memorizing where to look when he opens it again. "Well you didn't. It wasn't even good for a first time. Your teamwork is off and that's exactly what we went up there for." Now if you were a random person who happened to be listening to this conversation you'd actually think we were simply talking about a first hike. The thought of it being much more than that amused me.

Akira grumbled something and kicked Retasu who was in the middle of Akira and I. Shou was now trying to block us off by looking out the window. "Retasu, tell 'em we did good!" He urged. Akira didn't seem to like failure, I realized.

Retasu who was uncharacteristically quiet chuckled and glanced at Akira. "But we sucked. We really did. I started fighting _her_. And you punched me to stop." He covered his mouth with the back of his hand and yawned. He used that same hand to shoo Akira away. "Imma sleep." Before the brunette could answer, he fell into a deep slumber.

Ignoring my thoughts of somehow messing up his face, I couldn't help but feel like a complete loser after what Retasu said. He was right, about everything. He tried tripping me and so I punched him. Then we began fighting and Akira punched Retasu to stop. Then they fought. And with our anger at each other we began to look for the bell and we tried taking Kakashi down. Except he didn't have the bells we needed to get. So we looked for Shou and when we found him we charged at him. We sadly lost then Kakashi called it a day.

Yup, we're the greatest team out there.

We were dropped off at a street close to my house. The sun was almost down and I sure was glad that it was. I didn't need the sun burning against my already hot and bruised skin. It may be December but fighting like I did made me sweat and smell bad. I didn't even do much damage to those I mean to hurt. Which embarrassed me to no end. I sighed depressingly and looked up at Kakashi. "So…what do I do now?"

Kakashi looked toward the sunset then at me. "Well, you go home. And say you went on a adventurous walk on the mountains with your friends." His clam voice actually irked me for some reason.

I think it was because I smelled bad and Retasu and Akira were cute. Smelling bad around cute guys wasn't a good thing. No matter how some certain dark haired green eyed cute guy would be such an asshole. "I mean about the whole Elemental Nations thing. When am I leaving?" I tried to ask politely.

The masked shinobi answered simply. "Tomorrow. But don't worry about that now, Akio. We'll inform you tomorrow."

Before I left Shou gave me the rest of his water to use to wash my dirty face. All the bruises were on my upper arms and knees and those were gladly covered. Besides that I had some small mild cuts on my face and hands and Kakashi already gave me an excuse to cover those.

* * *

I went home with more questions than answers. After Retasu fell asleep, I reminded Kakashi of what he said earlier. He said that it took this long to approve of me going there because Kazaki had to ask Rihatsu. Kakashi didn't tell me exactly what that was but he said 'Earth has governments and Rihatsu is like the government of the Elemental Nations'. Also that it's forbidden for Earth to find out about the other worlds. He said so far Earth is the only one with no knowledge of other worlds. Psht, and NASA thinks it's the shit. He also said that in the Elemental Nations shinobi are required to be responsible and ready to survive on their own. He again asked me if it's what I want and I eagerly said yes.

Then he mentioned that Kazaki was on a mission (tasks ninja are ordered to do) and couldn't get me. Then to my surprise he said that since he's going to be my adoptive father my name will be changed to Akio Kurai. Then he got into the topic of clans and that apparently it's a clan in his world but clans aren't exactly rare either. He explained the powerful and respected clans and the small and useful clans are what pretty makes up the different elemental villages that ends up making that world.

When I got to the large front door of my house I kept my hand on the doorknob and pressed my forehead against the smooth door. I let out a sigh of exhaustion. I was really _really _tired from the fighting and unnecessary yelling.

Was I really prepared for this? To risk my life? To fight for who knows what? I certainly knew I wasn't prepared for a simple training session. And my opponents weren't actually going to kill me! And I still sucked ass! I let out a groan and shook all pessimistic thoughts from my head. No. I already made my choice and led Kakashi to think I was actually eager about my life changing decision.

My groan seemed to be my own personal doorbell since the door suddenly flew open. Which caused me to stumble into my mother. At first she seemed amused but at the sight of the small fresh cuts on my hands her eyes widened in concern. "Akio, what happened?"

She closed the door and led me into the living room where my cousins were all seated on the couches and the adults all sitting around the dinner table. Geez, she's acting like my legs are broken. Getting irritated by all of them staring at me I pretended to become interested in the floor while I plopped on the edge of the couch and swatted my moms arms away "After going out with my friends we went on a walk in the mountains."

Atsuko was bordley drinking soda from her straw "And you tripped a bunch of times?"

I successfully resisted rolling my eyes and crossed my arms, turning to the now ignored tv "Yeah."

Makoto and Kimiko who were sitting next to each other didn't seem to believe me but ignored it since it wasn't all important to them. My mom seemed a little unconvinced too but this wasn't the first time it's happened. I've gone on walks to the mountains with friends before but I never got hurt. That's what probably concerned her.

_

* * *

_

The night went normally. We ate and proceeded to do what we always do during our random "family" reunions. While Atsuko and Kimiko gossiped like the family best friends they were, I for once was thinking about more important things. More pessimistic things. It was still pretty early when my grandma told me to go change my shirt because it "smelled and looked bad".

This time I couldn't resist rolling my eyes. Lazily walking upstairs I heard a shuffling noises coming from my room. Since I was halfway up the stairs the rest of my family couldn't hear it. Alarmed, I sprinted the rest of the way and barged in my room ready to use my emergency plastic bat.

My eyes met with amused green ones and friendly hazel ones. Retasu and Akira were sitting on my bed. Looking through the channels on my tv as if they'd lived there all their lives.

I opened my mouth to say something but ended up stuttering nonsense which caused Retasu to smirk. Akira laughed softly and shook his head. "Oh Akio. If it makes you feel better, we just got here."

Akira nodded and smiled lightly. "Yeah. You see there's a change of plans…"

Retasu sighed and got up. "And we gotta go. Now."

I was finally able to let real coherent words come out of my mouth. "N-now? Right…now?"

* * *

I wouldn't consider this a cliffhanger. It's more of a pathetically dramatic way to end a chapter :3

Anyways, review please :)


	5. V: The Door Finally Opens

(A/N: I've always wanted to write a stolen car scene/part. I knew someone who's stolen cars but I've never been there for such event. Anyways, this is the longest chapter I've ever written, seriously. This shows Shou's failure at giving nicknames, how Team 17 sucks as a team, and how I kept my promise at not character bashing. Kicking Sasuke in the nuts by reflex isn't character bashing. I really don't know much about Team 10 & 8's senseis so this is the best I could do for them.)

* * *

"**When a Door Closes, a Million Others Open"**

**Third Person**

Akio never felt an adrenaline rush like the one she's feeling right now. Apparently something occurred and whatever it was made them have to leave earlier than planned. Which she didn't prepare for. Just like she wasn't prepared for being in a stolen car driven by a crazy driver. Shou shouldn't ever own a car and she was glad as hell when she found out they didn't have cars in their world. The only thing that helped Shou in his crazy state was his great amount of focus and the fact that they were driving on a empty wide road.

After realizing tonight would be the night- her last night on Earth she began to panic and sob. Akio paced around her room in little circles mumbling away things to herself and completely ignored the two older boys until they loudly reminded her of their presence. After getting a couple things stuffed into her pockets they helped her out the window before anyone realized the amount of time she'd been upstairs.

They were driving back to the mountains where they trained earlier and Akio's adrenaline certainly woke her up. But not enough to whoop cheerfully like Retasu and Akira were doing in the backseat with her. Kakshi, as always was calmly in the passenger seat occasionally giving tips and directions to the large man driving.

The windows were all rolled down and the wind slapping her hair against her cheek and neck somehow made her feel better. The cool night air felt soothing on her warm, anxiously sweaty skin. Shou drove faster than her uncle, well ex uncle but he drove _fast_.

Upon arriving to the top of the mountains, the three teens stayed in the backseat while the two adults opened a portal of some kind. Akio wasn't paying attention to that. Or how cold it began getting. She was in the middle of hyperventilating. She wasn't prepared. At all. Akira, who was next to her noticed this and tried comforting her like the good person he's showing her he is.

"Akio, breathe." His calm voice soothed her.

Retasu snorted. "Don't tell me your scared of some portal." His cocky voice annoyed her.

Akira let out a bitter laugh. "Don't be talking. Wait till I tell Daichi and Hachiro 'bout that."

Retasu's cheeks began to grow a cute shade of pink. In anger. And for Akio, seeing that cocky jerk angry slightly made her feel better. "I'm not scared of some portal. Just what's on the other side of it…" She mentally cursed at herself for bringing up her anxiety again.

Just as Akira opened his mouth to answer, Shou's impatient scream interrupted. "Get over here! We're leaving!"

The dark haired female let out a shaky sigh and Akira placed his hand on her shoulder. "You'll be fine. C'mon," He helped her out of the car and as they walked towards Shou and Kakashi. "And stop shaking."

There was a dark gray portal in front of the two men and Kakashi turned to Akio. "You ready?"

She glanced at Akira, who smiled and Akio nodded. "Y….Yeah." When Kakashi looked at her disbelievingly she sighed. "Look. I'll even go first." _"Did I just say that? Oh fuck…" _Surprising the four males and herself, Akio walked into the portal.

After a while she noticed the change in the air. It went from slightly warm to a cold breeze. But she couldn't see anything. It was just pitch black…

Realizing she'd screwed her eyes shut Akio opened one eye and she wasn't in the mountains anymore that's for sure. Opening her other eye, she felt her jaw drop. This was it. She was in another world. At that particular moment she felt so many emotions. Relief. Fear. Awe. Happiness. Indifference. Confidence. And so much more…

She was on a cliff that overlooked some sort of city. There were trees on the cliff and she noticed few trees on the city, too. Then she caught a sight of a face on a mountain. Using the moonlight as an advantage, Akio absentmindedly stepped to the edge of the cliff and squinted her violet eyes to see blurry faces carved onto the mountain on the other side of the city.

There were few people walking in the city to restaurants and such. They were kind of dressed like the four males. Now _she_ felt like the oddball in all this.

Oh shit! What happened to the four guys? Realization hit Akio and the first thing she noticed was exactly where she was. On the edge of a cliff. Where she can fall. And possibly die.

She jumped back and fell on her butt and instead of hearing herself groan in more pain (she'd dealt with too much that day) and the peaceful crickets she heard soft laughter behind her.

Standing up and dusting herself off she turned around to see the four of them watching her. Akira was the first one to speak. "We were letting you gawk at the village." He chuckled.

Akio smiled and turned her back to them, facing the village. "It's beautiful…" She felt like her reaction would be the same every time she'd see it from this view. The village was huge and there were few glows probably from restaurants who opened at night.

Akio heard footsteps coming her way and soon enough Retasu was at her side. "So, you gonna keep staring or see it for yourself?" For once his voice didn't drip with irritation but with a friendly teasing.

* * *

"And the Spirit Country's supposed to be bigger than this?" Akio asked. After being given a mini tour of the village and buying new clothes, Akio was now walking towards the Kurai estate with Retasu, Akira, and Shou (Kakashi called it a night after taking them to the clothing store).

Akira rubbed his eyes in attempt to stay awake and tiredly nodded. "Yup," he began. "So good luck not getting lost…" He ended with a yawn.

Akio smiled and stopped talking. Unlike the three shinobi she wasn't as tired as she was when she came home from the training. She soon felt like it'd been years since she was at Earth, not hours.

Akio decided to buy a navy blue short sleeved shirt with a small collar popped up and slightly darker shorts that ended just below her knee. The dark haired fourteen year old didn't seem to like talking about the pants, actually. Since her waist was over the average size for a teen (kun oichi were actually slimmer from the average training) she bought boy pants instead. Which happened to be the very same pants Retasu has, but only a different color.

For that the green eyed boy now won't stop calling her fat. Which is what caused Akio to elbow him in the ribs with all the energy she had left for the day. _"Not only is revenge sweet but it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside…" _Akio smugly though as she glanced at Retasu groaning in pain as he placed his arm over his ribs.

Shou tiredly opened two large wooden gates with ease, much to the guards surprise and hidden fear. Poking one of the guards in the chest Shou smirked mockingly. "If this scared you pansies," He turned to face the three teens "then you guys gotta ask about getting better security 'round here."

The two guards coughed uncomfortable and bowed to each of them as they awkwardly stepped inside to the estate. Large Japanese-styled houses were neatly lined in two lines. The houses were about three stories each and also had unique gardens surrounding each house. Each house also had a single tree at it's right, the leaves mostly gone and into the floor (some were raked, some weren't). Between the two separated lines of houses was a wide walkway that led to a wide and tall royal-looking house. The color was a richer color than the rest and Akio knew it was some sort of Head House.

Shou led them into the right side and a house in the middle of that. The garden was wildly decorated with flowers of various colors in no specific patterns. Just a splash a color to wow whoever came to that house. As they stepped in Akio was met not with a colorful living to match the garden but with a room lacking what a average living room has.

As Akira and Retasu collapsed on the couches, Shou murmured softly to himself. "Guess they left already."

Akio, who didn't care that he was talking to himself and not her decided to ask. "Who?"

Shou walked over to the kitched and grabbed an apple. "Rafu and Sumi. Kazaki's parents." The brunette simply answered. When he saw Akio's confused face he sighed and explained. "Kazaki has a house in the Spirit Country, you know, where you'll be going in a week. His parents are moving in and just moved out of here today I'm guessing."

Akio let out a absentminded 'oh'. She slowly made her way upstairs and stopped at a random door, opening it she was met with Retasu's voice behind her. "Oh? You like my room? Wanna see if you like the bed, too?" As Akio's cheeks turned into a slight shade of pink, the green eyed teen simple laughed.

Akira tried his best not to laugh at her reaction also. But Shou wasn't pleased with this. Stomping his way up to them he grabbed Retasu by the shirt and pulled him up to meet the large brunettes eye level. "Look, kid. Kazaki has no idea the three of ya are a team, but he knew she'd run into you here and made me make sure you don't pull any of your sick games on her. And this is me keeping that promise." He finished the sentence by throwing Retasu into his room, landing on the rug by his bed. As Retasu glared at Shou the older man simply smiled. "And I don't appreciate the way you seduce girls to get what you want."

Akio leaned against the railing for support. No, not because of Retasu's dumb questions but by Shous' strength and how easy he made throwing Retasu look. Akira was slowly making his way to what Akio guessed was his room when Shou spoke to him without turning around. "And you. You're in charge of keeping this team safe. That future womanizer may be physically stronger but you're smarter and I always liked ya better, got it?" Akira grinned slightly at being favorite and nodded.

As the younger brunette finally closed the door behind him, Shou led her to a plain door that revealed a matching plain room. Akio knew not to as what all that was about because he wouldn't tell her. The man didn't seem to like talking all that much and she already had an idea what he meant about Retasu. With his good looks he seemed like a smooth talker who used girls. After explaining it was the guest room Akio threw herself on the bed and began to think everything that'd happen that day.

After she glanced at the digital clock and realized it was well past over midnight Akio decided to finally go to sleep.

* * *

The first couple times the sunlight and her closed eyes met, shed simply ignore it and turned the other way to get more sleep but when she couldn't even turn away she forced her eyes open. "Fuck…" she softly cursed. She didn't even change out of her clothes! Akio groaned remembering she only opened the bag where her new pajamas were but went to sleep last night instead.

As she sat up and began to get used to being awake she was met with a loud crash from next door. A loud roar echoed threw the silent house "Damnit!" Shou. Akio smiled when she realized they both cursed prior to waking up completely. The stomp like footsteps made their way to Akio's room and soon Shou was pounding on it. "Wake up, grape eyes!" Akio's mouth opened slightly at the random nickname. Well her eyes were a pale violet…

After getting fixed up and only eating a apple (Akira insisted on eating the last banana) they were out once again. The whole time she tried not to get irritated by the damn sun. The rays were hitting her right in the eyes but she didn't feel any warmth. Instead she felt the cold breeze of the wind that began to pick up. Then Shou explained how he'd be dropping them off with Kakashi's team to train because the two jounin had a metting or something like that.

As they entered a forest Akio noticed four figures coming into view. One was obviously Kakashi since he was the tallest and the other three seemed smaller. Younger. When they finally walked towards them, Kakashi turned around. "Ah, you're late this time," he turned towards the three behind him and nodded his head towards Team 17 "Okay. Introduce yourselves to the girl."

Akio guessed they already must've known Akira and Retasu. She was proven right when a pink haired girl smiled shyly and waved slightly to them which they responded with grins. The pink haired girl walked towards Akio and studied her with big green eyes before smiling politely. "Hi. I'm Sakura Haruno, nice to meet you um…"

Akio smiled back just as politely and answered for her. "Akio."

The girl nodded and went back. A blonde haired boy with randomly spiky haired made his way to her, the friendly grin never leaving his face. "Hey, Akio! I'm Naruto Uzumaki." Akio laughed and said a 'hey' back at him.

Lastly, the one who didn't seem to want being there coolly walked to her and didn't bother with friendly or polite smiles. He made sure his frown was noticed, his bored eyes were seen, and his proud posture was respected. "I'm Sasuke." His eyes met with Retasu's and both boys eyes narrowed for a second before the dark haired boy made his way back to his team.

Shou impatiently tapped his foot through the introductions and once the dark haired boy made his way he spoke again. "While we're gone don't kill each other. Here's some money for dinner after, and your training is officially done for the day at a quarter to five. At seven you should be going to the Hokage's Office then after you've spoken with him we'll take you to the Main House at the Kurai estate so all you're questions will be answered. Got it? And if you're wondering Akio, they're all twelve." After handing Sakura the money, the two adults left.

After a couple seconds of awkward silence Sakura spoke again brightly. "Okay, let's go deeper into the forest. There's more room there." With that the six went towards a new direction.

While Sakura, Naruto, Retasu, and Akira talked away Akio began walking next to Sasuke. She enjoyed his silence and tried to calm herself down. First she didn't want more training but realized that's a daily thing for this world and secondly, she thought what her parents (well ex…) were doing. Had realized she's gone? Did they report her missing or running away? Sighing Akio glanced at Sasuke from the corner of her eye. He too seemed deep in thought and probably didn't notice Akio began to walk beside him.

Her and the young boy walked in silence until Naruto dragged her from behind. "Hey, we're here!" As he let go of Akio and made his way next to Sakura and Sasuke, Akio walked over to Akira and Retasu. "Okay, let's see who's the better team now, Akira."

Akira smirked and nodded. "Alright then."

And with that Naruto charged at Akira who was already in a defending stance. As Naruto swung for a punch Akira ducked and elbowed him in the ribs.

Retasu and Sasuke charged at the same time and both threw kunai instead.

Akio, who was distracted was thrown into the floor by Sakura's kick. Getting irritated by the pink haired girls sudden smug smirk Akio winced as she threw herself up an lowered her fist to her waist and swiftly punched her in the stomach which sent Sakura falling down on her butt harshly on the ground.

As Akio sighed in triumph Retasu was thrown at her from her side by Sasuke. She landed uncomfortably on her arm and a groaning Retasu was now on her back. He panted softly from on top of her until Akio had enough of his weight adding pressure onto her arm. "Get off!" She shouted, shaking him onto the ground with his arms and legs spread out.

Akio ignored it and charged at Sasuke who was the cause of the pain on her left arm. She raised her fist and felt her blood boil at his cocky smirk. Oh how it suddenly reminded her of Retasu's smirk. Soon her mind was in a sudden self inflicted illusion. Instead of punching Sasuke, she kicked him (pretending he was Retasu) in his happy place. His groan of pain caused the small group of shinobi to silence.

Sakura softly gasped as she sat up and Akira let go of holding Naruto by the shirt ready to throw him. The sound of Naruto's butt hitting the ground snapped everyone back into reality. The first sounds they heard was Retasu, Akira, and Naruto's burst of uncontrollable laughter. Then Sakura holding hers back in and trying to keep a worried face. As Akio stepped back and away from the glaring boy she was in to much shock to realize him rapidly getting up and running towards her. Soon she felt a harsh pain on her stomach by his foot then a mind splitting pain on her back as she hit the trunk of a three with her back.

She sat there for many minutes and numbly watched the other five continuing with their battle. When one of Team 7's members would try and attack her in her vulnerable state Akira would prevent it from happening. That caused Akio to smile softly.

She observed how off their teamwork really was. When Retasu would charge at one of the opponents, Akira would charge towards the same person oblivious to Retasu doing the same. And they soon hit each other instead of their main target. Akio also noticed how that seemed to happen more than once. And as she finally continued with the training she saw she did the same thing. And how this caused the three of them to argue and fight each other instead.

Another thing was how Team 7 did the same thing. Not as much but their teamwork was pretty off too.

Once it was sunset, Akio couldn't be happier (even though the six took a lot of long breaks). After Sakura bandaged and cleaned off everyone they were on their way to a restaurant for a long awaited dinner. Akio was impressed at how good Sakura was at healing and such but the pink haired kunoi chi thought nothing of it. Both girls decided to let the boys walk slightly ahead of them while they walked behind together. They still had cuts, dirt on their faces, and quite frankly they both smelled unpleasantly.

As they got to the restaurant and waited for their food two pairs of groups entered. Both groups of three were being led by two adults. One was a dark haired woman with the brightest green eyes and a dress that seemed to be made out of a bandage styled fabric. The man was dark skinned and had a full grown beard. A lit cigarette was hanging off his lips.

As the two groups passed by the six exhausted shin obi a long haired blonde smirked at Sakura's appearance. "If it isn't forehead! Hah, was training such a hard task for you? Look at me! Not a scratch in sight!" She snickered at Sakura's sudden scowl.

The boy next to her who had a spiky ponytail crossed his eyes in sudden boredom. "That's cause you didn't do anything, Ino."

The girl- Ino fumed away to a random table. A plum boy who seemed to be in the same team as them scurried away to the table, obviously hungry. As the adults neared the ponytail boy they came to a sudden stop and watched the six at the table. The woman was first to speak. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke? Where's Kakashi?"

Sakura smiled that polite smile she gave Akio earlier. "Hey Kurenai-sensei. Uh…Kakashi went to a meeting with Shou." Sakura seemed like the type to understand adults better.

The man was the one who spoke this time. "Hm…what's Shou doing here? Ain't he in the Spirit Country?" This question was directed to Akira and Retasu who knew more about the grumpy brunette than Team 7.

Akira laughed softly and jabbed a thumb at Akio who was next to him. "Yeah but Kazaki asked him to get this girl from Earth n bring her here."

The woman gave a knowing smile and looked down at Akio who sat there awkwardly. "Ah, so you're Akio."

Akio tilted her head and looked up at the woman. _"Whoa, she's beautiful…" _She thought. "You know me?" She asked with obvious curiosity.

The two adults seemed to act like a couple since they seemed perfectly fine with finishing the others' sentences. The man took out his cigarette and smashed it on their tables ashtray. "Heh, we were there when he told us about a little girl in Earth he wanted to adopt! And when he had to go ask Rihatsu and damn…took all these years for 'em to finally let ya come here…"

The woman chuckled softly and placed a hand on her shoulder. The motherliness that small gesture had made Akio suddenly begin to miss her mother. The mother that didn't want her anymore. "Yup. So Akio, don't be surprised if the some jounin already happen to know your name. Anyways, goodbye." She turned to Nauto, Sakura, and Sasuke "Good luck with Kakashi." She turned to Akira, Akio, and Retasu. "And good luck in the Spirit Country."

As they left (The ponytail boy waved a lazy hand in goodbye) Akio groaned loudly as their food came. Apologizing to the frightened waiter she let her forehead meet the table. "Ughhhh…what are jounin! Ahh no one's ever going to answer my questions! What's Spirit Country?!"

Retasu seemed completely amused by her frustration and sudden stress. Sasuke ate without a care in the world while Sakura secretly admire him. She didn't even touch her food saying something about a diet competition she's on with Ino. Akira sighed and patted Akio's back. "'Member what Shou said?"

Akio looked up at him dumbly and reached for her plate. "Oh yeah…okay then! Now I could eat happily!"

As she began to scarf down the food in complete and utter bliss the other five stared at her as if she'd just grown not one but three other heads.

Sakura coughed uncomfortably before hesitantly speaking up. "Uh…Akio you sure you should eat that much?"

Akio lifted her index finger at Sakura as a signal to wait until she swallows the food before speaking. Once she was done and sighed happily she grinned. "No, why? I always ate this much." She ignored Retasu's sudden chuckle.

Sakura laughed uncomfortably. "Heheh well I could tell you uh….like eating but you know you gotta keep a figure. And to be healthy, too." She had to admit, Akio wasn't fat. Her face, arms, and legs were healthy and slim but her waist and hips happened to be a bit wider than hers or Inos.

Akio blushed in embarrassment and frowned miserably. "I-I guess so…well I'll only cut down a bit. Diet's aren't for me and you're right I _do_ like eating."

* * *

After dinner, Akira and Retasu walked Akio to the Hokage's office. During the mini-tour yesterday Akio had been wondering what that large and round red building was. At the center it had the fire symbol in large black paint.

Now that she wasn't as sweaty Akio didn't mind walking around Retasu and Akira since they too smelled. Even worse, actually. Akio never understood why guy's on TV always said sweat was a good smell. Or why girls would swoon in exercise commercials when the men were sweating. _"It's disgusting if you ask me…"_

After telling various guards what they were there for, the three waited outside a large door where they heard soft murmurs from inside. Akio was scratching her leg awkwardly when the door suddenly opened.

Inside was Shou, a man with a scar over his nose, and a old man behind a desk dominated by large piles of papers and old looking books. Behind the old man was a large rectangular window that gave a nice view of the village. The moon could also be seen from the large window.

After the man with the scar introduced himself as Iruka and the old man as the Hokage, Sarutobi was when the Hokage spoke. "You can sit down." The three sat down in the perfectly lined red seats next to Shou. "Okay, Akio so far what have you learned in these past days?"

Akio frowned and sighed miserably once again. After thinking for a moment she looked at the Hokage again and finally answered. "Pretty much nothing. Just that I'm in another world. That and…ever government sucks."

The Hokage first explained ranks to Akio. How genin were the lowest rank of a shin obi and when they're ready to go to the next rank- chunin, she'd have to participate in the Chunin Exams which were taking place in about a month and a half. That little piece of information really frightened Akio, she didn't feel prepared at all. And if she ever did become a chunin then once she shows great amount of strength and intelligence then she'll be promoted to Jounin. He also explained Special Jounin.

After that topic he said Akio's an automatic Genin from a request (From Kazaki) and the small spar she had with Shou and Kakashi back at Earth was a test and she passed remarkably. And _that _small piece of information surprised Team 17. She was slightly stronger than some academy students in taijutsu. The Hokage said it might be her specialty for now until she understands chakra.

Which led to him explaining the types of jutsus, chakra, kekei genkai and such. Also that during the next week they'll be training Akio with every kind of jutsu while they find a capable weapon for Akio. Apparently her personality is suited best for a weapon wielder. After that the Hokage declared that questions involving the Spirit Country are for the Main House to answer. And so they were off to the Kurai Estate to meet the Royal Elders. "A bunch of cocky old geezers." Is what Shou personally called them.

* * *

Um....yeah. Review :)


	6. VI: Determination

Throughout the next few days, Akio spent her time being trained in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and some genjutsu. After training, she was free to roam the village for some time, then after dinner she was to learn about Shinobi history and how their world worked. It was all so rushed and crazy, but she enjoyed it a lot more than her life at Earth. When she had time to think, she'd wonder what's going on back there.

Akio really enjoyed walking around the village. She'd walk into different shops and actually converse with the owners and employees in there. She's normally a bit timid around strangers, but they were different. She wondered if everyone here was like this, or just Konoha. They had colorful personalities, warm smiles, and welcoming attitudes. In her few days there, the sun was warm and bright. She thought it really fit those who lived in Konoha.

After having a one on one spar with Shou, who was easy on her, she plopped down to the fluffy grass and gulped down half of the water in her bottle. It was around 3 pm, the sun was shining bright. A little too bright, as if it knew she was sparring and wanted her to sweat on top of dealing with Shou's quick jabs. She knew that wasn't really it, but she felt the need to blame the sun.

"Your stamina is too low. You're adapting to things pretty fast though. Keep that up, work on your stamina, and you'll be a decent genin in a few weeks." He casually said, ruffling her hair as he walked away. "And stay away from unhealthy foods!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Akio grinned at the thought of being a good fighter like Shou and Kakashi. She knew that was a pretty far fetched thought, but she could only dream, right?

The dark haired girl decided to get some ramen for lunch. _"Uh…I'll be healthy starting tomorrow!" _She thought. As she approached the small place, she noticed a certain spiky haired blonde.

"Naruto, hey." She smiled to the blonde with a mouthful of noodles. He grinned at her and let out a friendly "Akio, hey!" between bites. Akio sat down next to him and ordered the same thing as him.

"Not surprised finding you here." A loud voice said. Akio and Naruto turned to see three kids around their age. The one in the middle was the one who'd spoken. He had brown messy hair with chocolate colored eyes. He looked tanned and had red marks on his cheek. His smirk was a little cocky, but the small white puppy resting on his head made him appear friendly.

"It just so happens that-" Naruto began to shout back, but was interrupted by the brunette.

"Who's this?" He asked, looking at Akio. "Never seen you before."

Akio began to fiddle with the bottom of her shirt, feeling uncomfortable being looked at by all three of them. "Oh, um, Akio." She politely smiled.

The brunette gave her a rather wild grin. "I'm Kiba, this is Akamaru," He started, looking up at the puppy who gave a happy bark in return, "That's Hinata," he nodded his head to the girl on his right. She had dark black-blue hair and pale gray eyes. She waved shyly, in which Akio smiled at her. "And this weird guy here is Shino." Kiba said, nodding to the guy next to him. He had dark round shades, and a big coat. He simply nodded at Akio. "Are you from here?" Kiba asked, tilting his head curiously.

"Ahh…well…" She didn't really know how to put that.

Naruto spoke up, with noodles in his mouth again. "She's frm earf." He said as he continued eating.

The three strangers all seemed surprised.

* * *

After a few minutes of getting to know each other, Akio learned a few things. Kiba liked to argue, especially with Naruto and Shino. Except Shino calmly argued back and didn't seem to think much of it, while him and Naruto seemed to be in some sort of unspoken contest as to who's louder. Also, Hinata had an obvious crush on said blonde. She noticed Hinata glanced at Naruto quite often, with red cheeks. A few times the blonde would catch her glance, and she'd quickly look away, redder than before.

They stayed there until the sun began setting, they all stood up and said their good byes. Akio took a longer route to the Kurai estate, wanting to see more of Konoha. She felt stupid, but she couldn't get that grin off her face. Despite the constant hard training and studying, she felt happy there. Simply eating at Ichiraku with Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino was a lot better than the people back at Earth. Everyone stood out a lot more, they were more aware of being an individual.

Her calm and positive thoughts were interrupted by Akio's stomach hurting. She groaned. In the moment, eating three bowls of ramen sounded great. Now she surely regretted it. She rubbed her bloated stomach and pouted at the thought of having to burn that off.

As she opened the door to the house, her good day seemed to go bad. And only one person could do such a thing.

"Did you get fat? You look fat." Retasu said in a bored tone. He was sitting on the couch, feet up on the table watching tv.

He was one thing Akio couldn't stand. She didn't get how he could be such an asshole even though he barley met her. At every chance he got, he'd say some sort of comment just to push her buttons. He'd trip her while training, decide to uncharacteristically vacuum the living room rug while she wanted to take a nap, and use all the water while she was in the shower. All the while he had that stupid smirk on his face. At first, Akio admitted that his smirk was fairly attractive. Now she wanted to punch him in the face every time he smirked.

She rolled her eyes and headed to the fridge. "Is anyone home?" She asked. For a moment it felt so normal. She felt as if she'd lived there all her life, and known him all her life.

"Nope, just me. Hey, you should get away from the fridge. Your fat girl mentality can't control itself around a fridge." He laughed. He said it all so casually. That asshole.

Akio shut the fridge rather hard and came up behind him on the couch, pushing him off. "I've had enough of you, asshole!" She shouted. He stood up and said nothing. Nothing at all. All he did was smirk. And Akio couldn't take that anymore.

She walked around the couch and proceeded to punch him in the face. Sadly, he caught it. He seemed to have sensed that Akio would punch him with her left hand because a second later he caught that hand too. He pushed her onto the couch and straddled her, his hands strongly holding her wrists.

"_If I told my friends back at Earth that a guy this cute was on top of me, they'd laugh their asses off."_ Akio thought. Akio's cheeks began to redden like Hinata's earlier as Retasu's face began getting closer to hers.

He seemed perfectly normal while her breath began to shorten and her face was warm and red. Despite her current position and red face, the violet eyed girl continued to try and escape his grip. He looked down at her with that smirk at his, while she angrily glared up at him. Finally! One of her hands escaped his grip! Akio began to cheer in her head but that didn't last long. As her hand was freed, Retasu quickly kissed her.

It was so quick. Quicker than him holding her wrists as she attempted to punch him. There it was. His hands laid on her shoulders as he kissed her. She was stupidly lying there, shocked. It felt like an eternity, but it was probably only a few seconds.

Retasu broke the one sided kiss when the door opened. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights, only to find it was Akira.

The brunette's mouth was a perfect O as he slow minded closed the door. "….oh. You're so lucky I wasn't Shou."

* * *

Akio got up extra early the next morning and quietly left the house, heading for the training grounds. They didn't have to be there for another hour, but she had to get away. Last night was extremely awkward, especially after a clueless Shou came home. He went to bed early cause he got annoyed of all of them acting so weird.

Akira explained to her that Retasu does stupid things like that when he's bored. Akio believed him because the forest green eyed boy looked pretty bored when she came home. She realized that's also what Shou must've threatened him about. He had extreme raging hormones, she found out sadly. She'd always dreamt of someone good looking like him kissing her. Except she didn't dream of the guy being an asshole like Retasu, or it being out of boredom, or her just lying there not knowing what was happening.

She shook her head. No, stop thinking about awkward moments. She came to train, hoping to get her mind off of that. As she got closer, she heard what sounded like kunai hitting tree trunks. _"If someone's already there, do I wait for them to finish, leave or?" _She thought.

As she got there, she realized it was Sasuke training. He seemed to have been there for a while since he was softly panting. He turned to her as to see who interrupted his training and continued once he realized it was Akio. Akio put down her water bottle and began to fiddle with the bottom of her shirt. "Morning, Sasuke." She got a "Hn." As a response. The short haired girl bit her lip and voiced her thoughts. "Do I wait for you to finish, do I leave or?"

Sasuke stopped and turned to her, catching his breath. "Let's spar. I'm curious as to if you've made any progress." He bluntly said, not answering her question. Akio wasn't entirely offended though, she noticed he spoke aloofly to everyone. On the rare occasions he would speak. Akio wished Retasu was more like Sasuke. Both were really good looking, except Retasu constantly talked and teased her way too much.

She simply nodded. _"Wait what?" _She thought. _"Crap crap craaaaap!" _She nervously thought as she walked towards Sasuke.

He got in his stance and soon she did too. "I won't go easy on you like last time." He coolly said. Akio bit her lip nervously. He went easy on her last time? When he threw Retasu towards her, killing two birds with one stone? Her arm was sore after that, and he was going _easy_ on her? "No ninjutsu. You haven't completely understood it. That should be fair." He grunted.

Akio gulped as he ran towards her, which she responded by throwing a kunai at him. He swiftly dodged it without stopping and threw small shuriken at her. She was proud of herself when she actually dodged them, but she did it by awkwardly jumping back. Some of the spikes slashed her shoulders quite a bit, but she realized it could've been worse.

As she gained her balance, she threw several shuriken as she ran towards him. One hit him but despite his grimace at the small pain, he proceeded to spin and give her a kick to the side. Akio scraped her left elbow as it rubbed against a patch of dead grass. She bit her lip and grimaced as well at the warm pain. Before she knew it, the dark haired male was already running towards her again. Akio rolled off the floor and blocked his punch with her arms, and gave him a swift kick to the side similar to the one he had given her previously. They forgot about their kunai and shuriken and continued to engage in close combat for a few minutes. Akio dodged some, but took most hits. Sasuke on the other hand, dodged most hits, and only took some. After fifteen minutes, Akio told Sasuke she couldn't go on. She could barley understand herself, she was so out of breath. She drank most of her water in one gulp.

They sat quietly for a few minutes until Kakashi approached them, followed by Naruto and Sakura. Both were excitedly saying how Kakashi wasn't late for once. The jounin simply sighed and continued to read his orange book.

"Ah, Sasuke, Akio. Early birds I see." Kakashi mused, closing his book.

Sasuke let out his signature "Hn." While Akio smiled up at the jounin. "I'm no early bird," she laughed "I just want to get better at this stuff."

The silver haired man nodded, giving a small grin. "I see. Determination can bring you to places you'd never thought possible."

Akio realized. _That's what everyone in Konoha had. Determination. From the shop owners who lived the peaceful live, to the shin obi she's met recently. They all had determination. All fighting for their own reason. _


End file.
